Improvement in seeding-machines



. Z Sheets-Sheet 1. W. G. BARNES.

SEEDING-MACHINE. No.179,149. Patented J'une27, 1876.

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Hit i N.FETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D. C.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

.W. G. BARNES. SEEDING-MACHINE.

Patented June 27,1876.

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UNITED STATES PATENT rrre.

WALTER G. BARNES, OF FREEPORT, ILLINOIS;

IMPROVEMENT IN SEEDlNG-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 179, [49, dated June 27, 1876; application filed March 31, 1676.

art to which it appertains to make and use.

the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure ].is a longitudinal section of the seed: box of a seeding-machine having my improve- Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. l on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a similar view, showing certain modifications in the details of construction. Fig. 4 is an end view of the seedbox. Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the device for adjusting the operating shaft detached; and Figs. 6, 7, and 8 represent various forms of the screw feeding device, to be hereinafter more fully described.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

This invention relates to that class of seeding-machines in which the seed is forced into the drills orscatterers by a screw-cylinder rotating within a feed cup or case; and it consists in the construction and combination of parts whereby thisform of feed may be used without cutting, erushin g, or otherwise injuring the grain, while, at the same time, it may be readily gaged so as to control the quantity of grain to be delivered, substantially as hereinafter more fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing, A is the seed-box, and A, Figs. 2 and 3, represents an enlarged section of the same. This box is provided with hop- )GIS B slantin boards or conductors b bein 1 7 a :21

and hoppers B. E is the feeding device, which consists of a screw of anexterior diameter equal to the interior diameter of the cylindrical cap F, which is keyed onto and revolves with the propeller-feed E, in the manner-hereinafter described. The exterior diameter of'the cap F is equal to the interior diameter of the cylindrical case (3, within which it, with the propeller E, revolves when the shaft D, to which E is keyed, rotates. I

The'propeller-feed E is a screw of double or single thread, so constructed that the space between the threads gradually decreases from one end to the other. This may be accomplished in various waysfor instance, by making the body of the screw taper, as represented in Fig. 6, so as to gradually reduce the depth of the spaces between the threads from the point of the taper to its base; by gradually increasing the thickness of the screwthreads on a cylindrical body, and thereby, in the same proportion, reduce the width of the spaces between them, as in the screwrepresented in Fig. 8; or by a combination of these two principles, as shown in Fig. 7.

That end of the propeller E where the open space between its threads is greatest is introduced into the cylindrical cap F, to which it may be secured by a key, f, of the construction shown in Fig. 2. This key consists of a pin, of equal thickness throughout its length, having two upward projections, which tit into slots a, made in each end of the hollow cylindrical cap F, opposite to each other. These projections abut against both the edges of that part ofthe cylindrical case 0 within which the cap F is inserted andrevolves, thereby, it will be observed, preventing lateral motion of said cap.

The threads of the propeller E are slotted longitudinally at c, and these slots, which are all on a line, are so arranged that they, when the propeller is keyed onto the shaft D, shall be just opposite to and on a line with the longitudinal pinf. One or more of the slots 0 will therefore always, when the end of the propeller E is inserted within cap F, fit over and slide upon pin f, .which projects from the under side of cylindrical cap F into said slots 0, so that the propeller E and cap F .will rotate together.

It will further be observed that by this con struction the prope ler E is enabled to slide within the cap F, while the latter is prevented from moving laterally within the case 0 by the projections at each end of pin f, in the manner stated. Instead of preventing the cap F from moving laterally by means of a pin,f, as shown in Fig. 2, this may be accomplished in various other ways. In Fig. 3, the case 0 has a circumferential raised flange or shoulder, denoted by g, and the cap F is provided with a circun'iferential raised ridge or rib on the outside, that fits into the circular flange g, and prevents lateral motion of the cap.

instead of slotting the threads of the screwfeed E, as represented in Figs. 6 and 7, these may be provided with projections c that fit into a longitudinal groove, f, on the interior of cap F, as shown in Fig. 3, this being merely to reverse the construction shown in Fig 2. Sometimes it is desirable to" provide the cap F with a lip-orifice or flaring mouth, as represented in Fig. 3, so as to allow the grain to pass more freely in under the cap when propelled by the screw E, and prevent it from striking against the edge thereof.

Affixed upon one end of shaft D is a solid cylinder, D, grooved spirally at d. (See Fig. 5.) This cylinder forms the journal or hearing for that end of-shaft D upon which it is affixed, the shaft D having circumferential flanges or shoulders eabutting against its ends, so that when the cylindrical bearing D is moved in the line of its axis the shaft D and.

propeller E will move with it and in the same proportion. The cylinder D slides within a tubular case or bearing, G, which is providel within an inward-projecting pin, 1), that fits into the groove (1, thus causing the cylinder D with the shaft D to slide in their bearings at each end of the seed-box when cylinder D is rotated.

H is a lever, secured upon the end of cylinder D. The top or point of this lever forms an index, pointing to ciphers on a scale, I, which is aflixed upon the end piece of the seed-box, as represented in the end elevation, Fig. 4. H is a thumb-screw operating a clamp or catch, which fits in under the metallic plate upon which the scale is marked, so that the index or lever H may be secured upon scale I in any given position or opposite to any given number.

By this'arrangement it will be observed that by moving lever H forward or backward on the scale the cylinder 1), shaft D, and propeller E will slide in the direction of their axes, and their position may be fixed at any one point by simply securing the lever to the scale. The shaft D, passing through cylinder D, will rotate without regard to the position of said cylinder, propelled by pinions and gear-wheels affixed to its end in the usual manner.

It is obvious, however, that, instead of the device for adjusting the driving-shaft D with the feed-propellers E, laterally, which I have just described, any other suitable mechanism, that will effect a similar result, may be substituted, this being only one of several methods by which the same object maybe accomplished.

' The feeding-propeller E is keyed onto its shaft D in such a manner that when the index-lever H is in the position represented in Fig. 4, the most open part of the propeller or that part where the open spaces between the threads are largest -will rest within the hopper B. As the indicator is moved along the scale in the direction of the arrow the propeller is gradually moved or slid forward into the case 0, bringing its more solid portions into the hopper, until, when lever H has reached the opposite end of the scale, the most com pact or solid part of the propeller, or that part where the open spaces between its threads are smallest and of least capacity, occupies the hopper. The quantity of grain which the hopper will 'hold is, of course, gaged by the position of the propeller, which will admit a greater or smaller quantity, according to the position it is in, and the propeller may be readily adjusted in any given position within the hopper by. the index-lever H, in the manner described.

Each section of the machine being provided with a hopper, B, feed-case O, propeller-feed E, and protecting-cap F, all operated by a common shaft, D, and index H, the operation of my improved screw-force feed will be readil y understood. The respective propellers having been adjusted simultaneously to admit a certain quantity of grain (which is indicated on the scale I) from the hoppers, the grain will be screwed outthrough the cap F into the spouts or scatterers K on the same principle as an auger in revolving throws out its chips. The cap F, which covers the delivery end 'of, and revolves with, the propeller, prevents the screw from cutting or injuring the grain in its passage through it.

The advantages of my invention are: great simplicity and durability of construction; the grain cannot become out or bruised in its passage from the seed-box, through the feed, into the delivery-spout; the quantity of grain in the hopper is gaged readily and with absolute certainty; the feed can never become choked or clogged up, as the revolutions of the screw forces the grain through; and my improved screw-force feed will deliver the grain more evenly, as to quantity, into the spouts;consequently, when it drops onto the scatterers, it makes a more even distribution of grain onto the ground, thereby enabling parties using the machine to raise a better crop. In the machine using this form of feed, as heretofore constructed, the grain, in passing out, is apt to become out or bruised by passing between-the revolving screw and stationary seed-cup, thereby not only causing great waste by rendering a portion ofv the seed unfit for use, but choking up the narrow space between the projecting screw-threads and surrounding case or seed-cup, so as to greatly impede or entirely stop the operation of the machine; but by my invention these serious drawbacks are entirely overcome, because the machine feeds from the side through the rotating delivery-cap B, which delivers the seed uninjured directly into the spouts or scatterers.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. A screw-feed for grain-drills or seedingmachines, consisting essentially of the revolvin g screw-propeller E, laterally adjustable upon the driving-shaft D, and provided with a cylindrical rotating delivery-cap, F, mounted within the cup or case B 0, so that the .case, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

5. In a force-feed for grain-drills or secdingmachines, a seed cup or hopper, B, in. combination with a vertically-rotating and laterallyadjustablefeed wheel or propeller, E, fitting tightly within a cylindrical lateral elongation, O, of said seed cup or hopper, and projecting into the cylindrical rotating delivery-cap F, mounted within a similar lateral cylindrical elongation of the hopper B opposite to that in which the force-feed E is mounted, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER G. BARNES.

Witnesses:

L. W. GUITEAU, JNo. B. TAYLOR. 

